Relief is spelled W-H-O-L-E F-...

I’ve been working the Whole Foods-to-the-Backus property angle for more than a year. And it was one of those rare, maddening situations where I knew what the story was but couldn’t write it.

Whole Foods and the property developer were very quiet about their budding relationship. That’s not unusual, and rarely if ever preclude people like me from finding out about it. And once I know about it, I can usually run it to ground in some form or fashion, be it through public records (planning commission filings, tax certificate applications) or through the loose lips of those connected to the project.

That didn’t happen here. The real estate agents, property owners and property buyers involved signed non-disclosure agreements that were worth the paper they were written on. None of the submittals in the public realm had Whole Foods name on them.

Whole Foods didn’t even officially sign the lease on the property until Wednesday, the day the grocer released its quarterly earnings report and made its new store announcements.

So I was forced to tickle around the edges. In April 2011, I write a story in which the developer acknowledged Whole Foods was among those approached about the project – along with several other grocers and retailers (hardware, auto parts, etc.).

Then earlier this year when the project went before the MPC, the developer acknowledged the tenant would be a high-end grocer. So I made some calls and did some homework on Whole Foods peers in the field, and those companies admitted Savannah wasn’t in their plans. Read between the lines – something reporters hate for readers to have to do – and it was clear Whole Foods was coming.

But since the records weren’t there, the people weren’t talking and the lease wasn’t signed, I was handcuffed. The speculation was there, fueled by social media and by my colleague, business page columnist Bill Dawers. Yet the reporter is never truly satisfied until he reads a headline like “Whole Foods is coming.”

All that journalistic inside baseball aside, let’s hear from those excited about Whole Foods arrival. What’s your favorite Whole Foods item? And will you be taking a second job in order to pay for the shopping trip? Share below.